Comment on this storyAdd to your saved stories
RIGA, Latvia (`) — A raunchy, celebrity-studded party in Moscow has drawn the ire of Russian politicians and ardent Orthodox Christian activists, who are calling on law enforcement to prosecute the event's guests and organizers for violating laws banning “gay propaganda.” punish – the latest evidence of the country's drastic shift towards a closed, conservative society at the behest of President Vladimir Putin.
The party, a “nude illusion”-themed costume ball hosted by one of Russia's most popular Instagram influencers, Anastasia Ivleeva, on Wednesday evening, was attended by some of Russia's most prominent celebrities who have remained in the country since the invasion in February 2022 Ukraine, including some who did not support the war.
Guests paid a hefty admission price of about $11,000 to frolic in outfits of flesh-colored fishnet, lace and lingerie. Ivleeva wore a diamond body chain worth about $250,000, and a guest, rapper Vacio, paid homage to a 1980 Red Hot Chili Peppers record cover in which the band members wear only one sock.
On Thursday, the host woke up to a barrage of angry statements from officials and activists who accused her of violating restrictive Russian laws that criminalize “public expressions of non-heterosexual orientations” and of turning a deaf ear for throwing a lavish party while Russian soldiers continued to attack and die in Ukraine.
The critics called on authorities to terminate its advertising contract with a national phone provider, impose heavy fines and launch an investigation into its finances.
“There is war in the country, but these beasts, these scum, are organizing it all, these brutes who don't care what is going on,” Vladimir Solovyov, one of state television's leading propagandists, said in a Telegram post.
A pro-war Telegram channel called Two Majors wrote: “These freaks behave like this because the war is somewhere very far away for them.”
The criticism marks a departure from the early war sentiment of senior Russian officials, who wanted to reassure people that the invasion would not affect their daily lives and would certainly bring a quick victory.
Now, as the brutal and grueling war nears its two-year mark and losses in Russia are estimated at more than 300,000 dead or wounded, the public appears to be faced with a new demand. Instead of carrying on with life with permissive indifference, the pressure is to show solemn patriotism in support of what Putin has described as a near-holy war for Russia's existence.
Yekaterina Mizulina, who leads an activist group that wants to heavily censor Russian websites, called the party “a shot in the foot for the entire politics of our state.”
She is the daughter of the fiery, pro-Putin politician Yelena Mizulina, who has authored a series of repressive anti-LGBT laws in Russia.
“Our soldiers at the front are definitely not fighting for this,” the younger Mizulina said, adding that she was calling for a “government-level boycott” of the party’s organizers and participants. “I am absolutely certain of this after speaking to wounded soldiers recently.”
Sorok Sorokov, a radical Orthodox Christian group, said the party was “a wartime celebration that discriminates against the entire government on the eve of the presidential election.”
Another group with similar views, called Call of the People, sent a petition to the attorney general's office calling for a criminal investigation into the alleged violation of a recently expanded anti-LGBT law. In its request, the group stated that “men kissing were seen among the guests and the presence of drugs and minors cannot be ruled out.”
The group added: “There was everything from open LGBT propaganda and debauchery to open drunkenness and the use of illegal substances.”
A year ago, Putin signed a law making it illegal to promote or “praise” same-sex relationships, publicly express non-heterosexual orientations, or suggest that such orientations are “normal.”
In his last two terms as president, Putin has pushed for “traditional values” as the cornerstone of Russian society and has tightened relations between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church, portraying them as a bulwark against the liberal, decadent LGBT movement and gender rights-supporting West .
Some lawmakers called for artists who attended Wednesday's party to be punished with a ban on performing during the holiday, which could cost millions in revenue. In recent years there has been severe repression in the Russian arts and entertainment industry. Authorities forced venue owners to ban artists who refused to pledge allegiance to the Kremlin.
Iveleeva, the party's host, hit back at the critics. “It was worth it and I love that after every one of my parties people write comments that it's debauchery, some kind of demonism and satanism, even though it's just people wearing beautiful costumes,” she wrote in a now-deleted post Telegram post.
Others openly defended the event. “Where and when bare-bottomed adults go is their personal business,” Ksenia Sobchak, a socialite, TV host and former presidential candidate, wrote in a post on Thursday.
The scandal is the latest example of Russian politicians and commentators trying to score points with the Kremlin as the country heads toward a March 2024 presidential election that Putin is certain to win.
This week, a Russian court fined a television channel $11,000 for spreading “LGBT propaganda” after it aired a decade-old music video featuring singer Nikolai Baskov depicting a Roman Emperor-style ruler , who takes part in a bacchanal.
The judge ruled that “the lyrical hero portrayed by the singer” had expressed “communicative signs of a romantic interpersonal relationship” with another man and that his kiss with a female protagonist was not passionate enough.
“It is worth noting that the lyrical hero’s interaction with a female person is predominantly of a detached, contemplative nature,” the judge said, according to Russian news agency Verstka. “The lyrical hero's jealousy was not directed against the female character, but against a male character who was cheating on the hero with this woman.”
Comments are closed.